Bread Basket of the World

the quiet of the spring day was broken
by the noise and shouts in the fields
belching smoke the great iron beast
dropping its sharp blades into the soil
took large bites into the soft belly of the earth.

warm and moist the soil yielded to the blades
as the monster moved quickly forward leaving
straight lines of soil like long ribbons
behind

following was another of the beasts
smoothing the rows and carefully planting seeds
into the long ribbons of soil

the season of planting had begun
and another year awaited for the time
when the soil would give up
the long awaited harvest of its crops

the call of that grand lady welcoming all
to our shores with her message: bring me
your hungry and tired, and we will care for them, was being answered

America's feeding of the world's hungry
had begun, and the great food basket of the country
was about to be filled

the first tender shoots began to appear -
small and fragile at first - and then with the aid
of a soft rain grew stronger and taller

looking over the fields the long green ribbons of
the manna of the soil - soybeans, corn, sugarcane and
the once king of them all, cotton, now relegated to
a lowly position due to cost and price - all were about to fill the
breadbasket of the world

the great crops of the South all in one of many fields
spread out as far as the eye could see
great green ribbons - swaying in the soft summer breeze
majestically saying to the world that the time would soon
be near to fill of the baskets of the world

another season, another planting, another feeding -
the busy cycle had begun as had been done
since the earliest days of the nation

corn planter, bean puller, cane cutter and cotton picker
of the world, the great smoke belching, iron monsters of
the fields had begun their work

rest would not be an option until the work was done
and the plates of the world filled with the products from
these southern fields